Courtesy Hiru News

The inquiring committee appointed to investigate alleged irregularities in the ETI Investments met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat today(June 11).

The Committee informed the President that the ETI Investments had not followed the proper procedures in their conduct from its inception. It had invested its assets in other institutes and at the same time, it had not been supervised by the Central Bank, the Committee pointed out.

President Rajapaksa instructed the Committee to investigate into the irregularities in depth and pay more attention to return people their deposits immediately. The Central Bank cannot evade its responsibility in this matter, President emphasized.

The Central Bank is obligated to protect depositors if any irregularities are discovered in a financial institution. The Central Bank has failed in its duty, the President said.

Retired Supreme Court Judge K.T. Chitrasiri chairs the three-member committee. The other members are retired Solicitor General Suhada Gamlath and Senior Banker D.M. Gunasekara.

Secretary to the President, P.B. Jayasundera also participated in this meeting

Courtesy Hiru News

One (01) more person has tested positive for Covid-19 (new coronavirus) infection.

The country total has increased to 1,876 according to the latest information by the Epidemiology unit of the Ministry of Health.

Two (02) more persons confirmed for Covid -19: SL Country total increases to 1,875

Two (02) more persons have tested positive for Covid-19 (new coronavirus) infection.

The country total has increased to 1,875 according to the latest information by the Epidemiology unit of the Ministry of Health.

Courtesy Hiru News

Opposition and ruling party politicians have expressed their views regarding the resignation of former MP Mangala Samaraweera.

Courtesy Hiru News

It is 30 years since the LTTE terrorists killed 600 unarmed policemen in the Eastern Province.

The commemoration of the death of the police officers was held at the Ranaviru Memorial in front of the Ampara Police Superintendent’s office today.

Courtesy Hiru News

Pasindu Hirushan who was admitted to hospital with serious head injuries has left the hospital today.

Pasindu, a student of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, was hospitalized for nearly three months after a tire fell on his head.

Hospital sources further say that the student’s health is good.

A series of photographs showing how he was recovering has now surfaced on social media.

Old News

By Rohana R. Wasala

The Sinhala language online lankacnews/June 6, 2020 reported that the controversial Elections Commission member Ratnajeevan Hoole, in an interview with the regional Tamil language DAN TV channel in Jaffna, asked the voters in the north not to vote for the SLPP at the coming general election. The website carried the piece of news with a facsimile of the top part of an English language publication from which it was relaying the item of news; the latter carried Hoole’s picture alongside the headline in big letters, which ran: ‘Do not vote for SLPP…’. Hoole allegedly said this in Tamil. A number of other news sources have disputed this; Hoole said no such thing; his message had been garbled by supporters of the SLPP. According to lankacnews/June 8,Hoole,  interviewed by Sirasa TV/June 7, 2020, denied having asked voters not to vote for the SLPP; he had only stated that they should not vote for corrupt persons, liquor bar owners, individuals prone to violence, etc. Asked to comment on Hoole’s alleged controversial remarks supposed to have been made in Tamil, EC chairman Mahinda Deshapriya refused to comment on it until he received an authentic translation of the same. (Subsequently, Deshapriya has declared that he agrees with Hoole’s position, which suggests that the latter is not acting alone.) Some opposition speakers, meanwhile, are gleefully taunting the SLPP: ‘If the cap fits, wear it!’ 

Of course, the opposition might have something more than this chance of jeering the SLPP to thank Hoole for. Be that as it may, what, in my view, is important here is whether Ratnajeevan Hoole is capable of saying what he has been rightly or wrongly blamed for saying. Certainly he is capable of shooting his mouth off like that in the current highly charged pre-poll situation. His accustomed political postures, actions, and utterances over a long period of time, apparently inspired by a strange tribalism never expected in such a respected knowledgeable person, leave us in no doubt that it is not beyond him to act in that morally and legally unacceptable way.                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Is it because he probably thinks that he is about to be in at the kill, when, as he hopes, the coup de grace is delivered to the unitary Sri Lanka by completing the interrupted Yahapalana agenda after having the dissolved parliament recalled through some constitutional sleight of hand with the help of Sumanthiran exploiting the Covid-19 situation? Hoole charged, as reported in the online lankacnews mentioned at the beginning of this piece, that the SLPP is engaged in spreading misinformation against him through the media; news channels supportive of the SLPP are disseminating falsehoods about him, he complained. He has declared that he does not know Sinhala to read the ‘garbage’ published in that language. He is also reported to have stated that some people claim that he is going to resign from the EC, because they think that, when they say so, he will stop his activities. But, he added, the 19th Amendment makes it difficult to mess around with the election. (Now, who is trying to ‘mess around with the election’ by trying to postpone it indefinitely or cancel it altogether under the pretext of allowing time for dealing with the catastrophic Covid-19, which, however, has by now been definitely brought under control?  The government or the opposition? Any rational observer can understand it is the opposition.)

To date, while being an EC member, he has conducted himself as if he is interested only in what he believes is good for his own tribe, to the exclusion of the rest 85% of the multiethnic population. I am 100% sure that the vast majority of ordinary Tamils do not expect him to behave in the way he does, which must be embarrassing to them. Obviously, the LTTE’s alleged hostility to him did not mean that he was a friend of the Sinhalese, or of all those including Tamils who opposed it. The older Sri Lankans have not forgotten news reports to the effect that he was accused of collecting funds for the LTTE in Nigeria in the 1980s.  Just before the presidential election in November 2019, Hoole made public utterances encouraging MP Sumanthiran of the appointed opposition’s TNA, who used to hector in parliament to bungling ministers of the UNP administration (the rump of Yahapalanaya on its last legs); when parliament was dissolved, he unsuccessfully moved court against it. Wikipedia says that Ratnajeevan Hoole is a dual citizenship holder (SL and US), which must be true. But he  didn’t seem concerned about the injustice the current president Gotabaya Rajapakse was subjected to by his opponents and their NGO allies or sponsors persistently challenging his candidature for presidency on the false charge that he had failed to renounce his USA citizenship, despite the American embassy in Colombo having confirmed that GR had legally given up his American citizenship well ahead of the announcement of his nomination. 

Practically, Hoole opens his mouth only with a view to frustrating the country’s democratic return to the permanent peace and political stability of the five years 2009 to 2015, established after the nation having paid for it in blood, sweat, and tears, and thousands of innocent lives lost, and some fourteen thousand young soldiers – some in their early twenties – maimed for life, and now lingering in army hospices, some of them lying in bed like vegetables; to this must be added losses incurred and casualties, mostly suffered by the young, on the rebel side, very much a part of the cream of Sri Lanka’s human population, like the young soldiers who fought in defence of the state. Only the mindless racist fringe represented by Hoole and others of his ilk are impervious to their pain and suffering, and now remain deliberately in denial of the collective anxiety experienced in that deadly past returning to haunt innocent Sri Lankans of all communities  in the menacing shadow of the Covid-19 monster.

Ratnajeevan Hoole seems to be nursing a pathological hatred of the Sinhalese, particularly, of Sinhalese Buddhists. He despises everything associated with the Sinhalese, their history, their literature, their ancient knowledge, and their spiritual heritage. Once, referring to the claim by a scholar that the 15th century CE Sri Lankan Buddhist university Vijayaba Pirivena of Thotagamuva (- though primarily a large Buddhist pirivena, it was a centre of secular learning as well, that flourished during the reign of king Parakramabahu VI of Kotte) was one of the earliest universities of the world, Hoole took umbrage at that description and denounced it as an insult to other universities of the world! His recent confession that he does not know the Sinhala language reflects his mysterious antagonism towards the Sinhalese. It doesn’t seem to matter that he was born and had school education in Nallur, Jaffna, in the north and that he completed his university education in Colombo in the south, as a beneficiary of free education, among the traditionally peaceful and egalitarian Sinhalese, before proceeding to UK and US for his postgraduate studies in engineering. 

The trouble dealing with Hoole is that, in the country’s dominant traditional culture, people believe that the learned are disciplined (vidya dadaati vinayang – knowledge imparts discipline)   and therefore, are worthy of respect and paying heed to); in their innocence, they equate learning with education; they don’t know that a person may have much learning but little education. We have been plagued with quite a number of characters like that in politics recently. But the cultured ordinary citizens, out of the respect they have for this engineering professor, have so far viewed his ludicrous behaviour which is unworthy of him as a member of the august body that the elected parliament assigned him to, with some amused indulgence. Probably, he has forgotten about his own self respect in his anxiety to live up to the commitments he might have made to the cynical politicians who put him in that position with certain ulterior motives. But enough is enough! He must either resign or serve out his term with the appearance of an honoured senior citizen who is growing old gracefully, something he owes to the peace-loving Sri Lankan people.

Dilrook Kannangara

At long last Mangala Samaraweera has decided to end politics. Assuming it is true, a wise decision, albeit too late. Mangala was a regressive force in Lankan politics contributing nothing much positively. He earned the wrath of the people in whatever ministerial portfolio he held – media, construction, foreign, finance, etc.

He played a not so small part in disrupting the war effort by Chandrika and Mahinda regimes. While the army was battling Tamil terrorists under trying conditions in July 1995, his ‘Sudu Nelum Movement’ ridiculed the military while he was a senior minister of the same government. Around 1998 he said the report of the ‘Sinhala Commission’ that looked into some Sinhala grievances must be rubbished. That was both racist and malicious. He was the campaign manager of Mahinda in 2005 but soon after Mahinda’s election as president, Mangala disrupted him and defected from his regime.

Mangala was a burden to whatever party he aligned. Although he could win in his home district of Matara thanks to his paternal and maternal political heavyweights, his views were in sharp contrast to mainstream views.

Mangala, you won’t be missed.

Dr. Sarath OBEYSEKERA 

Secretary-General’s letter

Dear Colleagues,

Following the virtual town hall meeting held on Thursday, 4 June 2020, in New York, I wish to share with you a rough transcript of what I said to the colleagues in New York.  We gathered amidst the COVID-19 pandemic to focus on another urgent challenge – the plague of racism, prompted by a murderous act of police brutality that has led to widespread protests in the United States and, now, cities around the world.

The position of the United Nations on racism is crystal clear: this scourge violates the United Nations Charter and debases our core values.  Every day, in our work across the world, we strive to do our part to promote inclusion, justice, dignity and combat racism in all its manifestations.  

I also want to be clear about the recent guidance issued by the Ethics Office and relevant Departments.  It does not in any way indicate that staff are to remain neutral or impartial in the face of racism.  To the contrary, there is no ban on personal expressions of solidarity or acts of peaceful civic engagement, provided they are carried out in an entirely private capacity; rather, the guidance was meant to emphasize the need to balance such activities with one’s best judgement as international civil servants and our official duties.

The United Nations has a proud record of fighting racism and all forms of discrimination, from our leading role in the struggle against apartheid to the welcome extended to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Indeed, our own illustrious former colleague –Ralph Bunche – was the first person of colour to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and a front-line figure in the civil rights struggle.

You will see in the attached transcript that I am calling for a deep and sincere discussion among colleagues about racism, including at the United Nations.  I look forward to continuing our dialogue and, together, strengthening our Organization to face the critical challenges of our age.  

Yours sincerely,

António Guterres

********

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL’S REMARKS AT TOWN HALL MEETING, 4 JUNE 2020

Before we start I want to suggest that we have a minute of silence for all the victims of racism in the United States and abroad.

I want to once again express to all colleagues my enormous appreciation, my enormous gratitude, for your fantastic professionalism, your flexibility and the way you have been able to fully deliver for the people we care for during this period. And to say that as we hopefully approach a moment in which we might return to normality, that we will do it very carefully and in a phased way, because the safety and the well-being of the staff will be the primary consideration.

But of course, today we are here gathered for another reason. I will not be able to stay until the end, and management colleagues are here to answer any questions. But I felt compelled to give you my testimony in these dramatic moments.

We are all shocked by the brutality of the murder of George Floyd. And we are all impacted and concerned, with lots of events that followed that we have been very attentively looking at. And I think it’s important to recognize that the center of these is a serious question of racism. Now, racism is abhorrent, nasty, and must be rejected everywhere at any moment, condemned in a clear way. Racism is the rejection of our common humanity, which is a central aspect against the Charter of the United Nations. So something that justifies the Charter of the United Nations is the fight against racism.

But I think we need to go a little bit further, and to look into this from an ideological perspective, from an economic and social perspective, and also from a perspective of relations between police, governments and people.

First, the ideological perspective. We are unfortunately entering a phase that some have called the post-enlightenment. Enlightenment is a European concept largely but I think the values of the enlightenment — the primacy of reason, tolerance, mutual respect — are common to many civilizations and many cultures around the world.

And indeed it is as if these values are now being put dramatically into question. It is nationalism, it’s irrationality, it’s populism, it’s xenophobia, it is racism, white supremacism, it is different forms of Neo-Nazism, that are apparent in our societies. And it is clear that in the center of these drives to irrationality, there is racism, and many other things have racist components. We have been fighting a lot against antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred. And in antisemitism and anti- Muslim hatred, there is a racist dimension. So racism is in the center of many other things that we deal with and fight against.

It’s important to recognize that this is an ideological battle, in which it is essential to assert our values, the values of common humanity, the values of the Charter, equality, non-discrimination,

mutual respect, and the capacity to support all the movements that fight for these values that are also deeply linked to the affirmation of human rights.

Now, if racism is something that exists everywhere, racism also exists within the United Nations. This is another aspect that I would like to underline today. We have very robust policies in relation to discrimination, harassment, abuse of authority. There was recently a review of those policies that are in the SG bulletin. But we have not paid enough attention within the Organization to the specific question of racist bias and racist discrimination.

Of course, there is a general question of diversity and inclusivity. When we try to fight sexual harassment, the most important instrument is gender parity. When you try to fight racism, the most important instrument is to have regional diversity and inclusivity in our work. But this is general and of course we are fighting for it. But we need to go deeper.

I think we need to have within the United Nations an honest conversation on racism. We have some instruments already that were decided. We have the united in respect” dialogues. We have the inclusion dialogues. But these are, again, generic. We need to have something specific. I asked the Ombudsman together with the human resources department to prepare, in articulation with the staff representatives, a plan of action for a one-year debate on racism within the Organization, aiming at conclusions that, obviously, I want to listen to and be able to act upon. I would like to have a chapter on racism in the next staff engagement survey to see if we are able to make progress or not in this regard. My idea is for there to be a free-flowing discussion. I want people to feel totally at ease through the Ombudsman offices, through the civility café, through inviting experts to come and do TED talks and through debates that are organized. I’ve seen the staff engagement survey, I know that some feel that there is not enough respect within the Organization, that they can’t freely express themselves because they are afraid. I want this debate to be a clearly open, free-flowing debate without any restriction, and I’m very much interested in participating.

There is also a social and economic dimension in all of this, the central question of inequality in society, the central question of discrimination in society. And it is clear that diversity is a richness, not a threat. The societies that are diverse can only succeed if there is a massive investment in social cohesion, by governments, local authorities, civil society, churches, against discrimination and inequality. This is central to our 2030 Agenda, and this is central to the Sustainable Development Goals, and central to the values of the United Nations. So our values are not only related to the questions of racism as a human rights violation, they are central to the questions of inequality and discrimination. And these are vital in the perspectives of the work we do in relation to the 2030 Agenda and to diversity.

We also need to understand that when we have situations in which social cohesion does not exist, where social protection is not enough, and where we have different forms of discrimination, there are grievances: those grievances have a legitimate right to be expressed in societies. And for that demonstrations are something that is perfectly normal. It is our role to ask for demonstrations to be peaceful and at the same time to ask authorities to listen to the grievances and for police forces and others to be restrained in the way they handle these situations. And this is very much at the center of what we have been saying in relation to the recent events and other similar ones around the world.

And this brings us to the question of police brutality. One of the central problems that we are witnessing, and it’s very general, it’s not only police brutality, it is the difficulty of many authorities to deal with diversity. The most obvious aspect, which is less evident, but many colleagues have already felt it, is the so-called profiling.

But more dramatic than that is, of course, the police brutality in itself. We have seen a murder, but there are many other forms of police brutality that we see around the world, expressing racism. Police forces need to be fully trained on human rights. Many times police brutality is the expression of the frustrations of the police officers themselves, as well as of the lack of adequate psychosocial support to them.

Now the UN positions have been clear. The Human Rights High Commissioner has spoken. I have also been very clear in all my messages. Of course, many colleagues would like to be much more vocal and active, and we have the limitations of being International Civil Servants. But there is one thing that we all can do, which is to spread the UN messages. This can be done by everybody with the tools at their disposal. All of us can multiply and amplify our messages against racism, our message against police brutality, our messages against the inequalities and discriminations that lead to situations like the ones we live in, fully asserting our values.

And I’d like to say that I count on our colleagues and on the staff representatives to help us organize an effective internal discussion on racism. Because I think we need to look deeply into it. And we all need to look into ourselves, into our prejudices and do everything possible to eradicate these aberrations from us and from the societies around us.

Dr. Sarath OBEYSEKERA 

Dr Sarath Obeysekera
CEO Walkers Colombo Shipyard
Colombo
Sri Lanka

Courtesy PBS News

JERUSALEM (AP) — Several dozen people protested against police violence in Jerusalem on Tuesday following the deadly shooting of a Palestinian man last month.

Police said they arrested six people for blocking the city’s light rail line during the demonstration. Protesters chanted: A violent cop needs to be in jail,” and held signs with the picture of Eyad Hallaq, the 32-year-old Palestinian with autism who was shot and killed by Israeli police in Jerusalem on May 30.

Similar protests were staged in Haifa and Jaffa, the latest in a series of demonstrations against police violence in Israel following Hallaq’s death. The shooting has drawn comparisons to the death of George Floyd in the U.S.

Speaking earlier Tuesday while hosting a committee to address police treatment of special needs individuals, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said the country must do everything so that a terrible incident like this doesn’t repeat itself.”

Hallaq was chased by Israeli border police forces into a nook in Jerusalem’s Old City and fatally shot as he cowered next to a garbage bin after apparently being mistaken for an attacker.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deadly police shooting of Hallaq a tragedy.”

Palestinians and Israeli human rights groups have long accused Israeli security forces of using excessive force in some cases. Last summer, the killing of Ethiopian Israeli teen Solomon Teka by police officer sparked widespread protests by the country’s Ethiopian community over its treatment by law enforcement.

Aloysius Hettiarachchi

The world is in the midst of a serious pandemic in which several hundreds of thousands of people have already died. Fortunately for us in this country, we have not been affected badly up to now, but that does not mean that another wave cannot come with a new and dangerous mutation of the virus. Therefore we cannot allow a large number of people to gather at this moment where the country is heading for an important and decisive election is to take place in less than two month’s time. Also fortunately for us, there is a law promulgated by the British in the 1880s as a result of some other pandemics that may have prevailed at that time. I think that law is the one that saved Sri Lanka from the influx of millions of Tamils from Tamil Nadu. According to an article that I read recently, they had been coming into the country freely without any restriction through Colombo port. However, when Cholera broke out in India they had to stop them coming here probably to save the lives of Brits serving in Colombo. They were allowed to come via Manar and taken directly to plantations.

Frontline Socialist party has somehow taken control of university students, and we all know who its leader Kumar Gunaratnam is The guy was engaged in disruptive activities and when the government was going to arrest him during the time when present Prez was the defence secretary he slipped out to Australia and got citizenship there. And it was Ranil Wickeramasinghe who brought him back and gave the dual citizenship, perhaps to use him in a future date. That date has now arrived. No other people would venture out to stage protests like this. A small group comprising many Tamils took part in these protests. That was evident as they were mainly speaking in Tamil when they were being pushed to the police vans. It was these people who created havoc during the Yahapalana days every other day blocking Colombo roads. RW did not mind it because he wanted to disrupt everything and make the maximum inconvenience to Sri Lankans as they did not put him to power. And now the stage is set for all those good for nothing trade unions also to get together and create chaos saying they are sympathizing these people. Now the look at the people who are coming for their support- Samanali Fonseka, Dr. Nimal Ranjit Devasiri etc etc. All NGO kakkos who have no love for this country at all. In addition, there comes a tweet from the Jewish woman Teplitz, the American ambassador. She says she is with the minorities who are protesting for their rights. This has double meaning: it can be a way of supporting the campaign the blacks have mounted against the whites for the inhuman way George Floyd killing. He may have had criminal records. But looking at the picture ( those who are surrounding him) of that famous speech by Martin Luther King Jr, one can now understand what he actually was trying to do. Therefore there is a lot more than that meets the eye in that killing. Looking at what the ambassador said there is the possibility that this whole thing can even be financed by the US embassy. Considering the fact that US-funded the creation of the disaster management facilities funded by the US in sensitive areas like the East of our country, her activities should be closely guarded. They can even bring Covid-19 sufferers and give another gift to us qui4etly.

Now back to FSP and JVP and see who are these fellows: starting from the mid-60s these are the people who destroyed our university education system.  Our usual enemies may have funded some academics like Doric De Souza who secretly conducted classes in Peradeniya in their houses to unleash an armed struggle against the democratically elected government of the country. My roommate was insisting that I also join him on those classes. He was once beaten by the police and hospitalized when he took part in one of those protests. People like Bahu who got scholarships did nothing to the country in return after coming back. Kumar David is another one. Until today he will write about politics and not anything about his subject- electrical engineering. When his contemporaries in the US universities were engaged in the initial stage of the computer development and some were even becoming billionaires these guys were thinking about how to create disorder in the system. If it is the Tamil Nadu (or the Indians) that is involved, they have been largely successful. Their boy is the head of google while our fellows are thinking of starting on digitalization. Theirs graduated after passing out almost immediately get places in high tech companies like intel while our guys have to do the menial software development job. I know this personally as they are of higher quality.

I am sure when those universities open again the same situation will prevail: the students will be granted the Mahapola funds just to while away the time on our streets demanding silly things. When they come out it is the same GOSL that will have to find employment for them.

We as a nation cannot identify our real enemies and friends; we just act with our hearts without using the heads. Trade unionists are the worst offenders. They just sleep while racketeers siphon off EPF money which is their member’s pension fund. Perhaps they even benefit from a portion of the loot, as was explained by the SLVlog site in the case of Central Bank bond scam.

During the Yahapala days, those FSP fellows built Attala (raised platform) at the very place where their leader was arrested yesterday. I used to walk past that place a few times every week and I saw middle-aged fellows reading Sinhala novels while seated on the Attala.  There must be a funding mechanism for them to waste time. Or are they still Mahapola fund receivers?.

May we request the US ambassador to give visas to some of these fellows to migrate to US and help those underprivileged minorities in the same way the Australian government gave citizenship to KG.

Courtesy thenational.ae

Travellers will have coronavirus tests at the airport and must stay in the country for at least five nights

Sri Lanka will reopen to travellers from Saturday, August 1.

The country had closed its borders in a bid to prevent the spread of Covid-19, but will reopen to all nationalities and all types of travellers in August, according to the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.

In preparation for its reopening, several safety guidelines and precautionary measures are being implemented across the country.

These include mandatory face masks on flights, in airports and when travelling around the country.

The traditional Sri Lankan greeting of Ayubowan is also being promoted as the recommended way for people to greet one another, as it involves less contact than shaking hands, hugging or kissing on the cheeks.

Covid-19 tests will be free

All travellers landing in Sri Lanka will need to bring a valid, negative Covid-19 test that has been taken within the past 72 hours. Travellers will then be tested at their arrival airport in the teardrop nation. Results are expected within 24 hours, with hopes that the process will get faster in the future.

Once travellers enter the country, they will need to have another Covid-19 test five to seven days later, and again between 10 and 12 days for anyone staying longer. The tests will be conducted free of charge, but if results are positive, travellers will need to foot the bill in designated quarantine hotels or hospitals where they will be charged $100 (Dh367) per night.

All tourists need visas

There will be no more visas issued on arrival or visa free statuses given to travellers. From August 1, all tourists entering Sri Lanka must apply online for tourist visa. The cost of this visa is $100 per person.

Visas will be issued for a period of 30 days and are extendable for up to six months after arrival. Applications can be made here. Before applying for the visa, travellers must have confirmation of their accommodation booking.

Travellers can only book approved hotels

Travellers need to plan to spend the first night of the holiday near the airport. That means booking a stay in Colombo or Negombo for anyone flying into Bandaranaike International Airport. This is so that travellers are in proximity to the airport while their Covid-19 tests are being processed.

The train journey from Kandy to Ella is said to be one of the most scenic in the world, but for the moment it’s going to be off limits to tourists in Sri Lanka

Once cleared to leave, visitors might not be able to head for that tiny homestay in the hills of Jaffna or coveted surf shack in Kalametiya. That’s because tourists can now only book to stay in hotels and guesthouses approved by the ministry of tourism.

All approved accommodation will have enhanced hygiene policies, including on-call doctors, temperature scanners and strict policies on food services. An updated list of places to stay can be found on the Sri Lanka tourism website and there are several varieties of accommodation on offer with everything from luxury five-star hotels to boutique villas and heritage homes.

Swimming pools and health facilities remain closed in Sri Lanka, but the tourism bureau has published detailed rules that properties must follow for their operation if the government relaxes this restriction.

No public transport

The train journey from Kandy to Ella is said to be one of the most scenic in the world, but for the moment, it’s going to be off-limits to tourists in Sri Lanka. Foreign travellers cannot use public transport and must arrange transportation to their accommodation before arriving in the country.

No travel restrictions will be put in place between districts and travellers will be able to visit the majority of the country’s tourism sites where enhanced safety protocols will be in place. Places such as Yala National Park, Udawalawe, Arugam Bay and Trincomalee will be among those open to tourists.

Travellers can opt to get around the country by private taxi, car or bus and these should be arranged via accommodation providers or travel agents.

Previous reports that Sri Lanka planned to reopen its tourism sector in mid-June by allowing only small groups of visitors to begin with, were deemed false by the tourism bureau. All types of travellers whether tour groups, families or individuals can travel to Sri Lanka from August.

The country reported another 20 cases of the virus on Saturday, May 30, taking the total number of cases so far to 1,859.

The country attracted about two million tourists last year, and the sector contributes about 11 per cent to the nation’s gross domestic product.

The main tourist season in Sri Lanka typically begins in November, but the teardrop island is popular with holidaymakers from the UAE year-round.

Courtesy Adaderana

Five more navy personnel have tested positive for COVID-19 increasing the total number of cases reported in the country to 1,868.

The five new cases are navy personnel from Iyakachchi quarantine camp, the Ministry of Health confirmed.

Accordingly 09 new cases of Coronavirus have been reported so far today (10).

This includes 07 navy personnel, a returnee from Qatar and a returnee from Mumbai.

A total of 733 patients infected with the virus are currently under medical care while recoveries has reached 1,122 in Sri Lanka.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed the officials of the State Development and Construction Corporation to pay attention to the construction of housing schemes for middle and low income families.

The President gave this directive at a meeting to review the progress of the State Development and Construction Corporation held at the Presidential Secretariat today (10).

He emphasized the need for State institutes to deviate from routine practices and transform them into profit making entities, the President’s Media Division said. 

The President requested the officials to present him with a report on the status of the organization when it was handed over to the new administration at the end of the previous 5 year period and the progress thereafter. President also told them to plan out targets this year itself which are to be achieved next year.

Highlighting the importance of securing new construction opportunities available in the private sector by the State entities, the President reiterated the necessity of promoting the standards and the quality in order to compete with the private sector.

Attention was also paid to the issue of outstanding dues owed by state organizations to the corporation, the PMD said.

President Rajapaksa instructed the officials to probe into this matter and work out a mechanism to recover this money.

Secretary to the President P. B. Jayasundera, Chairman of State Development and Construction Corporation D. P. M. Chandana and the members of the Board of Directors were also present during the discussion.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election, which was postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is scheduled to be held on August 05, the Election Commission said.

Chairman of the commission Mahinda Deshapriya said that the members of the Election Commission unanimously decided to hold the 2020 General Election on August 05.

He stated that the relevant gazette notification has been signed and sent to the Government Printer.

The Election Commission is comprised of Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya, and members Nalin Abeysekara and Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole.

The commission had yesterday issued the gazette indicating preferential numbers of the candidates and the designated polling stations.

The parliamentary polls were initially to be held on April 25 but had to be postponed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted the authorities to announce a nationwide lockdown from March 20.

Later, the election commission shifted the date to June 20. It was again deemed not suitable due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

The election commission this week held a mock poll in the southern Galle district to test the COVID-19 health guidelines and its preparedness for the parliamentary polls likely to be held between late July and mid-August.

Deshapriya said there will be five more such mock polls soon to determine the likely time needed to cast each vote while sticking to the health guidelines.

The Opposition parties and civil society groups had petitioned the highest court to delay the election until COVID-19 threat could be negated. The court rejected their petitions.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on March 2 called a fresh parliamentary poll six months ahead of the schedule after dissolving the parliament.

Some 16 million people are eligible to vote in the election to choose the 225-member parliament for a 5-year term.

Dr Sudath Gunasekara Mahanuwara

This controversial man’s full name appears as Samuel Ratnajeevan Herbert Hoole and he is referred to as a Sri Lankan Tamil engineer and academic. He is a member of the election commission of Sri Lanka appointed by the Constitutional Council headed by former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya.

According to his Bio data as given in Wikipedia, he was born on September 15, 1952, in Sri Lanka But his nationality is shown as Nigerian. I am surprised as to how a Nigerian national was appointed to the Sri Lanka National Election Commission. Well if Rani’s Government could appoint Arjuna Mahendran, a Singaporean national and citizen as the Governor of the Central Bank (the whole world knows what Mahendran did to the Central Bank of this country with the assistance of Ranil and Ravi ) one could ask the question as to what is wrong in appointing a Nigerian national as a member of the Election Commission. The rationale must be lying there. That may be the reason as to why both the Speaker of the House at that time Karu J who is supposed to be the Chairman of the Constitutional Council and President Sirisena must have kept mum when Ranil wanted Hoole appointed as a member of the Election Commission, for reasons he may have had, up in his sleeves.

Though he is called a Nigerian National his name indicates that he is a hybrid product of the Christian Church a combination of British Tamil hybrid genre like Ramanadans and Coomaraswamies. Who were bred by the British to destroy the Sinhala Buddhists of this country and take over the leadership of British Ceylon after they leave.. But contrary to Coomaraswamies and Ramanadans who recognized the  true place of the Sinhala Buddhist civilization as the hall mark of this country, Hoole appears to behave just like a real slave Tamil Christian of the British Colonial plunderers. And a bull in a china shop in our context.   Looking at his upbringing and cultural back ground his anti- Sinhala, and anti Buddhist behavior is not surprising by any means.

The following four incidents clearly shows that he is not suitable to be appointed to independent Commission and he has never been independent in his duties and also  his in born animosity  towards the Sinhala Buddhists.

1His going to the Supreme Court against holding elections while continuing as a member of the country’s National election Commission which is expected at least in theory to be independent and conduct election impartially

2 His entering the Election Commission with this daughter, a Covid 19 suspect under quarantine,  who had nothing to do with election work, violating the Covid 19 related guidelines of the Government of the country

3 Suggesting that holding Election in this country should get the approval of the WHO and Health Authorities of this country and he does not accept the authority of the Director General of Health  of the Government of the country

4 His public statement over a Tamil TV Channel in Jaffna asking the people to not to vote the SLPP

 Furthermore the nasty and ridiculous comment on the Sinhala as ‘Garbage” and his declaration he does not know Sinhala the language of the country. While condemning his behavior out right, in this backdrop the whole country should demand him to resign immediately from the Commission. If he doesn’t the authorities should sack without any delay. Meanwhile I am also puzzled as to why the Chairman ask him to resign or ask the authorities to replace him with a suitable person.

 My biggest puzzle is as to why the Appointing authorities or the Government doesn’t take immediate action against this Tool Man and sack him from the NEC immediately and arrest him and put him behind bars for these treacherous acts so that all such treacherous fellows will learn a good lesson.

Jon Schwarz courtesy theintercept.com

IT’S TOUGH TO determine the most bizarre thing President Donald Trump has ever said. But what he tweeted on Tuesday morning is definitely in the running:

Donald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrump

Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?149K1:34 PM – Jun 9, 2020Twitter Ads info and privacy205K people are talking about this

This appears to be based on a segment on One America News Network, the cable channel for people who find Fox News unbearably liberal. The segment is narrated by OANN reporter Kristian Rouz, a Russian who speaks in a delightful, heavy accent; Martin Gugino, he says, was show-vd” by the police.

Rouz goes on to declare that Gugino has been referred to as an agitator” and now reports say police departments across the nations must not repeat the mistakes of the Buffalo PD, falling for far-left tricks.”

Matthew Gertz✔@MattGertz

Here’s the first half of the batshit OANN segment Trump just tweeted. It alleges the 75 year old man assaulted by Buffalo police officers was an antifa operative, based on a report from Conservative Treehouse.

It’s tempting to dive into the details to demonstrate that the president of the United States was wrong to claim the sky is green. But it may be more useful to ask what this says about Trump’s current psychological state, and how it compares to other Americans who’ve wielded the power of life and death.

On June 8, 1972, South Vietnamese troops dropped napalm on the village of Trang Bang. As Phan Thi Kim Phuc, a nine-year-old girl, fled naked down a road — her clothes had been burned off by the 2,000-degree jellied gasoline — an Associated Press photographer took a picture. The photograph went around the world, and immediately became a symbol of the war’s berserk cruelty.

Four days later, on June 12, President Richard Nixon mused about the picture in a conversation captured by his Oval Office taping system. I wonder if that was a fix,” he said to his chief of staff H.R. Haldeman. Could have been,” Haldeman replied. Because they got that picture of the little girl without any clothes … Napalm bothers people.”

What we see here is the people at the summit of power as they actually are — not super-villains delighting in their barbarism, but regular human beings who, like many, can’t bear to face the reality of what they do to others. So the immediate instinct of Nixon was to escape into a fantasy world.

William Westmoreland, a general who’d served as the U.S. commander in Vietnam, displayed the same predilection for psychological self-preservation. In a 1986 speech to Florida businesspeople, he learnedly explained that an investigation determined that Kim Phuc had been burned in an accident involving a hibachi.” No such investigation ever occurred.

It wasn’t just Vietnam, of course. In 2011, U.S. Apache gunships staged an attack in Afghanistan’s Ghaziabad District. The administration of Hamid Karzai, then the Afghan president, received reports that 50 civilians had been killed, including numerous women and children, and many children had survived with burns. In a meeting with Afghan officials, David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, shocked them by suggesting that the children had been burned by their own parents, in order to pressure the U.S. and its allies to cease operations in the area.

And this behavior is obviously not unique to American officials. During Saddam Hussein’s interrogation by the FBI, he was repeatedly shown evidence of his brutal actions. He generally did not attempt to justify what he’d done; instead, he simply refused to accept that he’d done it. Stories and tales have been woven” about Iraq’s treatment of Kuwaiti POWs after the 1991 Gulf War, he said. When the FBI screened a documentary about his suppression of the post-Gulf War insurrection, he declared it to be a propaganda film.”

But the connection leaders have to reality can wax and wane. According to Haldeman’s diaries, Nixon called him on Easter in 1973 to commiserate about the metastasizing Watergate scandal. Just remember you’re doing the right thing,” Nixon told him. That’s what I used to think when I killed some innocent children in Hanoi.” In other words, at this point Nixon was not telling himself fairy tales about his enemies hurting children to make him look bad. Instead, he took the more psychological healthy route of believing that he was responsible for mass murder, but that it was necessary.

Kim Phuc suffered grievous third-degree burns across her body. When the AP photographer took her to a Saigon hospital, doctors did not expect her to survive. She did live, however — and it appears that Martin Gugino will. Like Gugino, she has spent her life as a peace activist. So it’s no surprise that Trump is desperately grasping for any explanation that his side” does not casually hurt people like this. As the poet T.S. Eliot said, human kind cannot bear very much reality.” Those who run the world can bear the least.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

REVISED 21.6.20

Medhananda has shown, through his explorations and his writings, that the Eastern Province had a vibrant Buddhist civilization in the ancient and medieval period.  He has also shown that it had special features, such as hillside monastic complexes and a series of ‘Muhudu Maha vihara’.

Monastic complexes

Medhananda found evidence of huge monastic complexes in the Eastern province. He was one of the first, if not the first, to draw attention to the magnificent monastic complex at Rajagala. Medhananda has gone there and done a thorough exploration. No formal examination of Rajagala had been done, at the time, said Medhananda.

The Rajagala monastery was known as Girikibalavi Tisa Mahavihare. The Rajagala hill range, also known as  Rassehela kanda,  is  1030 feet above sea level. Both north and south slopes have many ruins. All over the hills there  are   ruins of stupa.  There is a hermitage to the  north. Many stone pillars of various heights and sizes, circular, rectangular, octagonal are seen scattered. Stone ponds, one had a sluice. Medhananda noted its special features such as the two water spouts to fill large stone cisterns.There were decorated urinal stones.

There were over hundred caves. Brick and stone walls created separate rooms inside the caves. One cave had a bed and pillow cut out of rock. Cave walls were plastered and painted, paintings have faded. One cave has a roof carved in shape of an umbrella and handle of the umbrella is done in most exquisite fashion, said Medhananda .

Rajagala yielded 70 cave inscription, 20 slab inscription and rock inscriptions. One huge inscription said that the ashes of Mahinda and Ittiya are enshrined there. Another inscription spoke of Saddhatissa and Lanjatissa. (This is not king Lanjatissa) Inscriptions spoke of donations of tanks, caves, fields. Inscription also made reference to statues, taxes and coins. One inscription refers to tilling the land with a  golden plough. One Inscription has been tampered with, concluded Medhananda.

Medhananda drew attention to the monastic complex at Bambaragastalawa in Kumana. This monastery extends to over 450 acres. There was no road access and Medhananda had to go through dense forest which held wild animals. His route was Panama, Salawa Eliya, Okanda, Tunmulle, Yoda lipa, Manhasara, Sala eliya, Kudumbigala to Bambaragastalawa.

At Bambaragastalawa he found over ten stupa,  on hill tops and flat ground.  He found rock cut steps,   Buddha statues, asanaghara,  pillars, caves, viharas, image houses, chaitya  and  very old bricks. There was a stone seat, 15’ by 5’9”, beautifully carved at the edges. This may be an asanaghara, said Medhananda. He also saw a stupa 50 ft wide and 23 ft high. He  found a rectangular arrangement of six rows of six columns each.  

There is a huge pilima lena surrounded by smaller lena, said Medhananda.  In it there was a reclining Buddha image, 36 feet in length, built with brick, mud and lime plaster, vandalized by treasure hunters. There is a  drip ledge all round the cave. Brick walls were built dividing the cave into many rooms, with the top decorated with swan sculptures. The bricks used were excellently  burned ones.  There was a vestibule 16 by 48 ft in front of cave. It had  ten square holes  for wooden beams. There was a stone pillar in front, and  stone steps indicating two entrances,  a  wooden door frame and  a wooden pillar, of milla wood, concluded Medhananda.   

Medhananda  had  also explored Sembumale monastery,  in  Kuchchaveli,  which covered over hundred acres. He  visited the monastic complex at Mahapattuwa in Veheragoda area. This has not been explored by the Department of Archaeology and there is no official record of it.

Medhananda went to Bovattegala  from Panama, past Kumana villu, through forest, then  north east along a footpath to Bovattegala . There is another route, on Kumbukkan oya, to Mahagal amuna, to Kumana wewa bund to Bovattegala, observed Medhananda .  Bovattegala showed ruins of a monastery, said Medhananda . 

Medhananda drew attention to Omunugala Cave Monastery ( ‘len vihara’ ) at Ampara. The meditation caves at Omunugala extended from the foot of the mountain to a level little below the summit.  They  were very  impressive. Every cave had its   drip ledge inscription ,  Most caves had remains of walls. There are ancient  paintings in one cave. One cave is startling, said Medhananda .  The cave and the rock in front have been combined to make something like a two storey house. Another cave had rectangular holes drilled into it probably to support beams to an upper storey. 

The largest cave, a shrine cave, is about 120’ in length, had walls on three sides and a window. There was a  flight of steps leading to a door frame to enter the cave.  It had a makara thorana.  There are more undiscovered   caves but access was very difficult  and  I did not climb them, said Medhananda. 

 Forest hermitages

Medhananda  visited the many forest hermitages in the Eastern Province. It is Medhananda who drew attention to Kudimbigala.  This is acknowledged in the media references to  Kudimbigala. Medhananda said that there were  Buddhist ruins extending over at least    600 acres around Kudumbigala   with numerous stupas  on the rocks. Kudimbigala has  the only cylindrical stupa known in Sri Lanka, said Medhananda . inscriptions show that Kudimbigala was established by  king Kavantissa.

The  cave architecture of Kudimbigala was astounding, said Medhananda . The cave technique is amazing. Cave after cave, placed on top of each other for 100 acres or so. He had counted 105 caves. one cave was a Budu madura.   One cave was named Maha Sudarsana , another was Yoda lena. Sita pokunu lena had paintings of  7^th century.

There was a huge cave project at Samangala forest hermitage, Ampara, , said Medhananda . This was a high level hermitage. Inscription  indicates that this was started by Saddhatissa. One cave is 60 feet in height and can shelter about 500 people. All caves had drip ledges. There were many inscriptions which have not yet been  recorded. No archaeological  explorations have been done here. An attempt to turn this into a meditation centre, some years ago, failed, said Medhananda.

There has been a monastery at present day Namalu chetiya. Namalu chetiya was huge, almost as large as Ruvanveli. The villagers used to worship there. The monastery of 150 acres  occupied flat ground , rock, hill and forest. There were ponds, flights of steps, heaps of inscriptions and several stone beds. The monastery ended at Heda oya. This would have been a developed, scenic, large monastery, said Medhananda . A monk was living by the stupa in a small  hut when Medhananda went there.

Buddhangala aranya Senasana,  Ampara has 200 acres of ruins,  on  five hills. stone bridges connect one rock to the other. Caves were partitioned into three by walls. Bricks with decorations and inscribed are found in plenty. There was a fine siripatula, circular , 11 feet and well carved.  In 1964 Buddhangala was restarted as a hermitage.

Piyangala vana Senasuna,  Ampara has over 100   meditation caves with and without drip ledges. Some of the old walls remain. The old badama is there,  this is worth examining, said Medhananda.  

Medhananda has also visited Rangiri len senasuna, Hiriyala,  and Seethakanda aranya senasana, Moneragala. Karambagala senasuna, (Bilivana  vihara) Hambantota had caves all over. One cave could accommodate 400. There was a seat in another cave. At  Nimala vana senasuna there is a rock with a stone carved bed, said Medhananda .

.Madama gama Kanda Aranya senasanaya in Hurulu palata, Anuradhapura  had a cave with a roof built above. The stone beds here are unique. They have been carved out of the stone. There are 7 beds near the pool , two more behind , one above and four near the cave mouth. There are beds at Ruhuna Namalu also but not in a row like this. This monastery had a  huge cave 150 feet long on a hill which was  300 feet up. there was a frightening slope on one side  of this cave.

Cave shrines.

Medhananda has drawn attention to the existence of   cave shrines. caves converted to shrine can be seen in  Ruhunu and Pihiti rata he said. The most notable  of the cave shrines explored by Medhananda  was   the Karandahela  cave complex, in Hulannuge, Ampara, 633 feet above sea level. Karandahela has the biggest cave in Asia. .https://roar.media/sinhala/main/features/caves-in-karandahela-sri-lanka/

At Padikemgala Medhananda found many caves first inhabited by monks, then turned to shrines. There were many shrines in these caves, the paintings on the walls could  still be seen. One  cave had brick wall with many niches and no windows.   Neelagiri  pilima lena  had    two important caves at the top, both are shrines.  The caves had walls, one wall was of stones. The walls  had been plastered, the plaster can be seen, also the  paintings.

Muhudu Maha viharas

Medhananda drew attention to the Muhudu maha viharas. Muhudu Maha viharas could be seen in abundance on south, east and northern coastal areas, said Medhananda. These  shrines were built  to be seen  from the sea.  Medhananda particularly  focused on the Muhudu Maha viharas built along the coast of the Eastern province  .  Kucceveli Maha vihara was one of these muhudu viharas, he said. Magul Maha vihara , Kirinda  had rows of caves with walls and  drip ledge. The viharas at Bundala,  Gokanna, Gotha pabbata, Jambulkolaptuna  Kirinda, Lankapatuna,Okanda, Potuvila, Sangaman kanda, Sastravela, were in existence  until recently, he said. Stupas were also  built at the mouths of the rivers where they  meet the sea, as at Walawe ganga.

Ariyakara viharas

Ruhuna has had several Ariyakara vihara where venerated arahats lived and Ariyawansa sutra was preached. This was very popular in Ruhuna, there is evidence to prove this., said Medhananda . There was Ariyakara Raja maha vihara   at Kettama village, in the Eastern Province.  It has steps, siripatul, gal vangediya, faded inscription, naga carvings on rock as well as  carvings of horse and  bahirawa.

Ariyawansa sutra was  also preached at Mulhitiya Velegoda near Pulligoda, said Medhananda . this was Pelegama vihara originally. Veheragala, at Rajagala, had Ariyawansa preached there. Inscription says Kubira bhikkhu stayed there. This inscription is still there. Bovattegala Inscription  indicates that the  Ariyawansa sutra was preached there.

There were other viharas where the Ariyawansa sutra was preached from a seat set on a hilltop. There are such open places with a seat at Molhitiya, Velegala, Mutugalla ,  Panama, Sastravela, said Medhananda .  

Medhananda thinks that there was also an Ariyakara building at ‘Punchi Sigiriya” in Digamadulla. Punchi Sigiriya is not a rock, it is a cave. With a one  Sigiriya like painting, seen by Paranavitane, which is fading away. Medhananda was more interested in a ruined building  on a hill close by, reached by a flight of steps. Medhananda  thinks  this was for preaching Ariyawansa sutra.  

Forgotten viharas

Medhananda has  discovered  many forgotten viharas, specially in the eastern province. In his book, Sangavunu aitihasita pudabim” ( Dayawansa Jayakody,  2 ed 2014) he has described  the following viharas in detail. Andiya gala Raja Maha Vihara  Vilachchiya  korale, Anuradhapura .  Bingoda Raja Maha Vihara   Wellassa.  Boralukanda vihara ,Nilaveli.  Budumuttawa Raja Maha Vihara   Nikaveratiya. Gal kandegama Kanda len Vihara,  Vavuniya. Illukpitiya kanda len vihara, Ampara. Katupotha kande lena, Mihintale. Kebellena vihara Hiriyala. Naindanava vihara. Polpitigama,, Kurunegala. Piyan galle vihara,  Eravur. Rangirimada Raja Maha Vihara   Hiriyala. Sadun giri Magam pura Raja Maha Vihara,   Kurunegala. Sri Pana Raja Maha Vihara, Pottuvil. Suduveli Mankada ha gal hira Mankade vihara ,  Moneragala.

Another of these forgotten vihara is Kotaveheragala vihara in Yalpota village, Lahugala, the village has just four families doing chena cultivation. Kotaveheragala vihara has a cave second only to that in Karandahele. It has a carved drip ledge. It is divided into four  rooms and the walls are still standing.  there is an  inscription on the steps, faded which says the steps were donated by a monk. It must have been an image house .  there are  lovely overflowing ponds on the rock . Lots of bricks all over.  It is possible to go round the rock to the caves on the other side,  but it is dangerous, because   bears and leopards come there. This vihara  has not been seen by the Department of Archaeology.

Medhananda  has  explored Somawathi vihara at Kombanachchiya, near Kiliveddi. It has ruins no one has seen before. Malayadikanda vihara  has  27 caves and ruined stupa. Niyagunakanda vihara   has caves near it with drip ledge inscription. Site has never been examined. Both viharas  are near Hingurana sugar factory. In Gal len vihara at Giribawa, Kurunegala the caves had specific names such as sheeta guhe, two caves were maha lena. Kappangamuyaye Kadurugoda vihara by Namal oya had stupa, columns, and moonstone. There were  ruins in the forest around. Ganegama vihara, Ampara had veddha paintings of crocodiles, elephant and other figures . it had a simple sandakada pahana,  and a doratupala with  punkalasa. there were many Veheragalas in the island, observed Medhananda . Medhananda    has also looked at Balahudu , Kukuluvagala   and Galaba len vihara.

Some forgotten viharas catered to small populations. Kirivehera Raja Maha Vihara   Lahugala,  was in village where a few families were living off     banana plantations. It was reached  by a footpath from Hulannuge junction.

Medhananda also commented on  some of the  objects found in his explorations. Medhananda took special interest in the bricks that lay in abundance in the sites he explored. He had inspected the ancient bricks at Diyahinna. Around Verugal ara  near Uppar lagoon there are  hillocks  full of old bricks, he said.   At Henangala  he found three types of ancient bricks.. At Veheragoda, Ampara ,  in the ‘Pansal kalla’ section there were bricks measuring 2’1” and 1’2”. Kudagala  had  bricks some  1’4’x8”x 2 ½ and others 8”x9”x 2 ½ .Buriyakulam kanda ruins would have had  very attractive steps judging by  the decorative  bricks found there.  Vachinikulam ruins, in Mannar district had  bricks  which were  16”  x 9x 3  , Punyadi had had  ancient bricks of different types. Some had rounded edges., Daluggala Raja Maha Vihara  bricks can be dated to 8  century AD, Medhananda concluded.

Medhananda found two clay puvaru 14” by 11” by 1 ½ at Medagama kanda Aranya senasanaya. On one puvaru there was garadi veta carved, resembling the veta at Sanchi. Also an attractive line  of flowers. The  carvings have been  done before firing. These puvaru  were probably used for decoration .

The rock cut  steps at Padi Kemgala ruins are unique. there are  several flights of steps. The first consists of 52 steps   which were  2’6” long and 1’2’ wide. This was followed by several sets of 7 steps each, with a resting stone between,  ending with a set of rounded steps .the resting stone was 10” by 5 with three circles in it,  and a lotus design in the center. The last step was decorated with a curled elephant trunk. I have never been seen such a flight of steps, before exclaimed Medhananda . There was also an inscription which said how the steps were made.  That inscription was  decorated with two lotus buds on stems.  Padi Kemgala ruins  also had a moonstone carved  in the  rock.

Neelagiri  pilima lena  was probably a very important aramaya.  There is set of steps all the way up the hill. there seem to be more than 200 steps. It has breaks in it, for people to stop and rest every   50 feet or so, with arukku gal. There are moon stones at the breaks. the only other flight of steps like this is at Hachchikuchi, said Medhananda .

Medhananda Found a special siripatul gala at  Konduvattavana ruins in Inginiyagala. It was a round siripatula gala, and siripatula is elevated in the middle of the  sculpture. This is rare. the upper terrace of the stupa  at Panama Raja Maha Vihara has siripatula on it.  I have seen this only in twow other places, vehera galkanda and dammina, said Medhananda . At Bollagama Raja Maha Vihara the  siripatula is  joined to the base of stupa. This is  found in very old stupa.  

In early Buddhism, the  Buddha was depicted symbolically by an empty chair. This was one of the earliest symbols used for the Buddha. These empty chairs were housed in Asanghara. The Asanagara found at  Pulunkunawa is unique, and not found anywhere else in the country, said Medhananda . It was owalankara  in shape. Veheragoda ruins, Ampara     had an  asanaghara. Medhananda saw a possible asanaghara at Bambaragastalawa too. 

Diviyagala vihara in Ampara district has a beautiful moonstone and umbrella stone in good preservation as well as a complete chatragala, and three siripatul. Tampitiya vihara by Tampita wewa, off Pullumalai junction, Batticaloa district,    has a very unique guard stone with 9 snake heads, a person holding a pun kalasa and a woman bending down and collecting water.

When he was at Ellepola Medhananda  heard that Bambaragala kande in Diyawinna had archaeological  remains.  He went from Balangoda, along  Kattota road, Thanjan tenne, turned left  at ancient wewa, through jungle, to Bambaragala kande,  where he found  a Punchi Sigiriya. There were  fading frescos and stone seats  there. Medhananda wrote about it  to ‘Silumina.’

Medhananda had also found a second Punchi Sigiri” at Kudagala. .One cave in this complex had valuable paintings on one whole wall. Villagers say they had seen the drawings.   There were large lotuses brown, red, orange. They were described by Medhananda  in 1968 in ‘Davasa’  newspaper. But someone had whitewashed most of it. They have now disappeared said Medhananda in 2003.  ( continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Revised 27.6.20

Ven. Ellawala Medhananda made a special effort to find and record stone inscriptions from the archaeological sites he explored. Medhananda had been very successful in this venture. He says he has found over 500 ‘new’ inscriptions. This can be accepted as Medhananda has been engaged in archaeological explorations for over 35 years.

Medhananda is a self taught epigraphist.  He said he learnt epigraphy from Tennekoon Wimalananda’s ‘Sellipi Sangrahaya. As far as I can see, Medhananda’s findings and interpretations have not been dismissed by academics.  His findings were first published in newspapers, such as ‘Divaina’ and ‘Davasa.’ These essays had a good reception. Medhananda received many letters of praise and was asked to compile his writings into books, which he did.His book on the Sinhala Buddhist heritage in the north and east,” won a State Literary Award.

The inscriptions found by Medhananda cover a wide time period.   Lahugala wewa inscriptions are dated from 1 century AD to 6 AD. Udagala Dagoba (Kalakulam) inscription was 9th century AD. This inscription shows the ‘pirisindu Sinahla viyavahara of the time,’  said Medhananda.

Medhananda has found several important inscriptions. They are discussed in the next essay, but here is one unique finding. Medhananda found a cave inscription in Erabadda, in Nivitigala in Ratnapura district, in brahmi script, dated to 2 century AD. The inscription said that one Revata had donated a cave. This is the only inscription found so far in Ratnapura in brahmi script. It shows that Ratnapura was a part of the Sinhala-Buddhist civilization of the time, said Medhananda.

 Unlike some epigraphists, Medhananda never disparages Senerat Paranavitana. Medhananda  noted that the Bovattegala inscription  was found by Paranavitana. Medhananda’s   Interpretations are always intended to support and expand the good work done by Paranavitana.. For instance, at Diyahinne, the Department of Archaeology had taken down just one part of an inscription. Medhananda stated that Paranavitana had used this defective copy. Medhananda had recorded the full inscription. At Kirimakulgolle Medhananda said he found an inscription on the same rock, in addition to the inscription there which Paranavitana had seen. Medhananda said he had found ten more inscriptions to what Paranavitana had found at Kudimbigala.

Medhananda is not so kind towards the Department of Archaeology. Medhananda complained that the Department does not help outsiders who engage in archaeological exploration voluntarily. During Paranavitana’s time, if you sent in a finding you got a letter thanking you. Now they do not do even that.

Medhananda observed that the Department of Archaeology, which was set up in 1890 had collected a total of 3339 inscription by 2007. That means 30 per year. Medhananda found 86 inscriptions in one month. In Horowopotana area alone Medhananda found 80 ‘new’ inscriptions.

Medhananda added further factual data to this. Henanigala had yielded one column inscription and 22 rock inscriptions. Kongala ruins yielded 14 cave inscription and 4 rock inscriptions. Maragala kanda had an old forest monastery with lots of Inscriptions. There were lots of inscriptions at Uhana too, concluded Medhananda.   

Medhananda said he had found inscriptions which the Department of Archaeology had not found.  Here is a selection.  Department of Archaeology had found 20 inscriptions at Bambaragastalawa, I found 14 more, said Medhananda. Medhananda had found three more to the 14 already known at Pulakunawa kande, Ampara. At Ritigala, Medhananda had found one inscription which the Department had not seen.

Medhananda has gone to sites which the Department of Archaeology had not explored and found ‘new’ inscriptions. At Katupotakande (close to Mihintale) Medhananda had found 4 inscriptions. Department had not explored there, said Medhananda. The inscriptions at Diviyagala vihara in Ampara district also had not been read by the Department. Sipavata vihara at Linemalai has inscriptions which have not been examined before. They indicate that this area was once a Sinhala Buddhist agricultural area.  

Medhananda is definite that he has found inscriptions which had not been seen before. That can be accepted. Medhananda has deliberately gone to difficult, inaccessible places which have not been visited before. Once he got there, he surveyed the site as fully as he could.

 At Gal len vihara, Giribawa, Kurunegala, Medhananda had found 14 inscriptions, some were carved under the drip ledge, others on cave wall or the rock.  At Nimala vana senasuna, Kirinda  Medhananda had found 14 inscriptions, cave 14, rock 7.

Medhananda  found 17 inscriptions at Samangala, one in Karosthi script. No one  knew these inscriptions existed, said Medhananda.  Medhananda had found 19 inscriptions at Magul Maha vihara, Kirinda. They were first copied and published  by me, he said. At Namalu vihara  Medhananda found 12 inscriptions, not listed before. At Akasa chetiya, Hambantota, he found 2 cave and I rock inscription.

At Sastravela   Medhananda had found  three brahmi inscriptions,  two rock inscriptions and  one cave inscription dated to 1 century  AD. Medhananda had  found 15 inscriptions at Malayadikanda, having gone there several times.  He published his findings in 1968 and 1984. ‘Till then nobody knew about them’ said Medhananda .

Medhananda provides the original names for many temples, wewa and villages. Perilya kulam was known as Manavatu tank. Uruwela is known as Arippu today. Arugam bay was formerly ‘Rugama’ derived from Aramagama. Kodavattuvana tank is the  Tamilised version of ‘Kandewattavana’. Verugal Aru is Veheragala . Ilukpiti vihara was Malayagikanda. Eravur was Erahulu.. Bambaragastalawa had Viyolaka vihara. The vihara  at Sastravela was originally Bodigiri naga pabbata vihara.’ Linemalai  had a monastery called Sipavata ( Sinha parvata). “Vav niyava” became Vavuniya.

Medhananda did not fail to record the pictures and decorations in the inscriptions he found. there is   an   inscription with wrestlers carved on it in the second Henannegala cave, he said. Duvegala vihara Tamamkaduva inscription had a sailing ship carved on it. Halbe Raja Maha Vihara pillar inscription dated to Kassapa IV, had carving of    snake,     sickle, dog and crow and a large Sri at the top of the inscription.  The inscription at Padikemgala ruins had two lotus flower bouquets on either side of the inscription. Samangala forest hermitage had an inscription with a sketch of a stupa resembling the Sanchi stupa. 

Medhananda did not explore sites blindly, he made inquiries first.  At Diyahinna, a chena farmer directed them to the inscriptions there.  One Samel, living in Uhana had directed Medhananda to the inscriptions in Samangala. He had seen them when he went there. Samel also directed Medhananda to the Piyangala inscriptions and told Medhananda how to get to Madanakanda.

Some inscriptions were found by accident. On the way to Halambagala, Medhananda got caught to the rain and took shelter under a rock, with a sandy floor. Then they found that there was an inscription under the sand. They photographed it.  

Medhananda has been very determined when it came to copying inscriptions. At Samangala Medhananda saw an inscription about 60 feet above the ketarama. There was a tree about the same height close by. ‘I climbed the tree and copied the inscription,’ he said.

Medhananda visited Kirimakulgolle six times to gather inscriptions. One the fifth visit, the inscription he was aiming at was difficult to get close to. Medhananda undaunted, climbed on to a ledge with aid of trees and bushes. Then he decided to cut a tree and climb up further using it.  The tree was cut but it did not stay in place. Medhananda and tree fell down. 

So Medhananda went again, for the sixth time. This time they took axes and ropes. They lifted up the tree they had cut earlier and put cross pieces on it, like a ladder. As Medhananda climbed up, the tree turned over, he clung to it and both came down, for a second time. Then the team re-fixed the trunk onto the tree stump, wedging it firmly this time, and Medhananda climbed again, ‘risking his life’.

Maragala kanda had an old forest monastery with lots of inscriptions.  On an instinct, Medhananda put his hand   under a low lying rock. This was a dangerous thing to do, since he could be bitten, but instead he felt an inscription. He had to dig to get at it.  He found a sharp pointed piece of wood and scraped with it. The soil was very hard as it was dry season. Then he lay on his back with his head knocking on the ketarama and copied what he could, since most of it had faded. (Continued)

Appendix  1

• Medhananda had explored Bambaragastalawa,      Lenama, Budubava,  Nalitta,   and found ruins which the Department of archaeology had not found. .
• Niyagunakanda vihara close to Hingurana sugar factory has caves near it with drip ledge inscriptions. This site has never been examined before.
• Saman gala forest hermitage on Ampara Mahaoya road has inscriptions which have not yet been  recorded. There is a cave 60 feet in height which can shelter about 500 people.
• After the Eelam war ended, Medhananda  went to Vakarai, Mavil aru, Sampur. He found 25 archaeological  sites which had not been listed before.  He also found 6 inscriptions.  Till I found  these inscriptions with the assistance of  the army, no one knew about them. they are historically important. After I told them  the Archaeological  Department went and copied inscriptions from Kalladi.

Appendix  2

• Medhananda found four inscription  close to Mihintale and was openly surprised that the Archaeological Department had not seen them.
• Medhananda discovered an important inscription on Devanampiyatissa  in  Kegalle district ,  covered in soil. Department of Archaeological had not  seen it.
• Medhananda had seen over 200 unrecorded inscriptions at Weli oya Sampath nuwara. They are not recorded in any Archaeological Department register, said Medhananda. 
• Medhananda found 22 broken chaitya at Sastravela, Ampara. There was no record of these in the Department. Medhananda discovered  one rock and two cave inscriptions. 
• Viharagal kanda at Trikonmadu has ruins for 10 acres. These have not been explored before. Medhananda found Stupa, walls, caves, asanaghara and an old wewa. He also found a cave inscription dated to 1 century AD. 
• There are no reports in the archeological depts. as to the ruins at Mahapattuva. Mahapattuva is about 8 km from Timbirigolla Vidyalaya aside the Ampara Ambalan oya road.
• Toppigala had not been examined ‘properly’ by the Department of archaeology. Not one place in Toppigala had been looked at, said Medhananda.
• After the Eelam war ended Medhananda went to Vakarai and Mavil Aru in Batticaloa and Sampur in Trincomalee. He found 25 archaeological sites which had not been listed before.   He also found five archaeological ruins at Kadavat maduva near Batticaloa   railway station. No one had looked there before. There is very useful archaeological evidence there, said Medhananda.
• C. W Nicholas had found the cave inscription at Karandahela. Medhananda had found, and publicized, the cave inscriptions   there.
• Serupitiya ruins had not been examined till Medhananda got there.
• Six important inscriptions were found by Medhananda at Punyadi ruins.
• Ruins at Pillumalai, Kopavali, and Tamketiya in Ampara have never been investigated, till I did so, said Medhananda. The same with the ruins around Dighavapi.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Revised . 27.6.20

The inscriptions found by Medhananda have helped to confirm known historical facts and also advance our knowledge of the Sinhala Buddhist civilization of ancient and medieval Sri Lanka.    

The inscriptions Medhananda   found refer to a wide range of Sinhala kings. This indicates the extent of Medhananda‘s explorations. Here is a list. Galkiriyagama kande vihara, Vavuniya inscription show that queen of king Uththiya built a Buddhist structure here. King Uththiya reigned in Anuradhapura right after Devanampiyatissa.

 Nagapabbata vihara inscription says the vihara developed under Kutakanna Tissa (44-22BC). Linemalai  has an  inscription of  Bhatika abhaya,(22Bc-47AD). Galkiriyagama kande vihara. Vavuniya also has an inscription  dated to Bhatika abhaya. Muvangala temple, near Hingurana sugar factory has an inscription by king Subha (60-7).  

 Kanitta Tissa (167-86) was son of Mahallaka Naga said an inscription. Bovattegala inscription was issued in the 8th regnal year of king Jettatissa (263-73). Bilivana vihara inscription says Sirimeghavarna (301-328) donated a cave. Namalu vihara inscription also refers to king Sirimeghavarna.

An inscription found near Allai wewa speaks of a donation to Kavudulu vehera by Dappula IV (924-35)    Paranadu Amuna pillar inscription, Ampara refers to king Udaya IV  (946-54). Veheragala Raja Maha Vihara Tammankaduwa has an inscription where Nissanka Malla (1187-96) advises   the people of Ruhuna not to eat bulat. Kanichchigala in Beerihorowwa division also has an inscription by Nissanka Malla.

Medhananda has found a lot of inscriptions relating to Mahadatika Mahanaga (7-19 AD).   Pasana pabbata Vihara inscription says Mahadatikabuilt the vihara, then purchased and donated 20 paddy fields, free of tax. He also gave the water tax from Naga Ela for maintenance of the vihara. Another inscription says Mahadatika Mahanaga built Maninaga Pabbata vihara at Panam pattu. 

Mahasilu Mahatis’s grandson and Kutakanna Tissa’s son Mahadatika Maha Naga had gifted lands to Sastravela vihara, said yet  another inscription.     Medhananda also found inscriptions of cave donations which showed that Rabaya, a minister under Mahadatika Mahanaga, had functioned in both Toppigala and Seruwila.

There were inscriptions about Vasabha (67-111) too. There has been an administrative division of the Eastern province   known as Pajinikara. According on one inscription, Pajinikara was administered by Sona, the son of the minister Bhojaka. Sona had obtained permission from Vasabha and built a huge stupa in present day Kasimottai. This shows the region was under Vasabha, said Medhananda. Otherwise why ask for permission.  An Inscription at Eravur   showed that Pajinikara area was also administered   in Vasabha’s time by minister Asigira.

Medhananda has found inscriptions which  seem to indicate that the ancient Eastern province did have an international perspective. The inscription at Kandegama kande len vihara, Tamankaduwa  spoke of Supparaka”. Supparaka port, located close to present day Bombay, was an important  port in the international trade route  of the time.

Medhananda also observed that there were  many inscriptions with  the word ‘bharatha’ . ‘Bharatha’ is found in inscriptions from Mulgirigala len vihara, Puttalam and  Vanni Hatpattuwa.   Another  inscription said bharatha gothra Shavita’s son Rakshita”. India is now thinking of changing its name from India to Bharat adds this writer, Kamalika Pieris

There was also information on the local  social structure. Henangala inscription  speaks of five   villages,  Giritissa gama,  Karajinitissa gama,  Vilagama, Kasyapa nagara, Malagama,  and Nokapika gama.  In  Ganekanda vihara inscription there is a reference to Gokani grama which must mean Trincomalee, said Medhananda .

Nimala vana Senasuna inscription  speaks of the paddy fields in Mayalisara, Paharakara, Lagamasara, and Dohatana. It also mentions the irrigation  channel Kana DIgana yala”. Girikumbara vihara  lists Mahagala ketha,  Seethakala ketha, Kakalaha ketha,  Hakala ketha, Maha raja ela,   Abalaketha ela, Marachiya ela.   

Buddanehela  Raja Maha Vihara gives names of  gardens, Asunbada watte, Bowatte,  Pardevi nama watte,  Endihi nama watte,     Nanadalisatha nama watte, Nenanile watte. Girikumbara vihara, Ampara lists names of wewa, Maragama wewa, Abalaketha wewa, Maradagama wewa,  Baramanaka wewa, Marachiya wewa.  Galkiriyagama kande vihara, Vavuniya refers to Pahata wewa, Manikara wewa and Naga wewa.

The inscriptions found by Medhananda, provided   interesting information on temples and Sangha. Ganekanda vihara Kurunegala speaks of a donation to Sudamma chetiya. It is rarely that stupa get names, except for Ruvanveli, observed Medhananda .

.An inscription from Mullikulam malai referred to    ‘stupa, vihara, and cave’  in a single inscription. Danurdhara had built a stupa and vihara and had donated them to the Sangha together with a cave,” said the inscription. Medhananda says this is the first time he has seen these three structures mentioned in a single inscription.

Inscriptions have provided useful information on the Sangha. Lahugala wewa rock inscription refers to Galaturumula parapura. An inscription found in Ampara spoke of a diga majjima banaka’, a bhanaka who had studied the Diga Nikaya and Majjima Nikaya.

Piyangalle vihara, Eravur inscription said that Piyangalle was not only for Maha Vihara but also for Pansakulika, Abhayagiri and Dakkina vihara monks. Halbe Raja Maha Vihara  pillar inscription had a  complicated set of instructions as to who could enter  the temple.

Buddanehela Raja Maha Vihara pillar inscription said that all trees, paddy fields and so on within the boundary, should be shared in turn by the monks living in Sagiriya and Nagiriya. The inscription also showed how this was to be managed. 

Inscriptions spoke of donations to temples.   Gal len vihara, Giribawa, Kurunegala  inscription had a simultaneous  donation  of a cave, pittaniyak, kumburak, and  part of an amuna.  In Kongala inscription  the donation was kahavanu.

At Ganekanda vihara/ Mandalaramaya, Kurunegala one  cave has been donated by  the head  and deputy head of a trading  concern (velenda samagamak) . Nimala vana Senasuna inscription said a cave was donated by the cloth weavers society.

At   Padikemgala  all donations were by monks. Medhananda thought this most unusual.  In the Magul Maha vihara, Kirinda inscription donations were from village leaders,      upasika, doctor,  householders, elite and Sangha,  but  none  by royalty,   observed Medhananda .

Cave donations   showed  the many official designations and occupations in the island.  Karandahela inscription spoke of  a  swami,  an acharya and a  kumbalkara. Inscription at  Habutagala vihara  said one donor was a  ‘potter’. This shows that   a potter was not considered  to be a person of inferior rank, argued Medhananda . Malayadi kanda vihara  inscription speaks of a  donation by a government nurse.  In another inscription , the donor was an intelligence or secret service officer.

From  a feminist perspective, cave  inscriptions  indicated the  status of women.  Medhananda had found Inscriptions  which said  Cave of Chitra daughter of chief minister Utara”, donation of      Sachini, daughter of educationist Shata” and  Cave of  female devotee Yasashini. An inscription  saying , ‘Selabe, daughter of Paravata Kala constructed this flight of steps,’ was found at Bandara vava on Ampara –Mahaoya .

Inscriptions found by Medhananda yielded valuable information on  commerce and finance in Ruhuna. Himidurawa inscription  speaks of a cave  donated by an accountant ( ganaka) named Tisha. Other inscriptions said cave of Vahali, chief accountant and daughter of Asha”  and  cave of   accountant Suriya.

Tonigala  and Punnyadi/Kalladi  inscriptions  went further. One inscription, dated to Anuradhapura period, spoke of a market town called Kalahumanika . Kalahumanika   had a bank  where a minister called Pahejasiva  had deposited grain. A second inscription indicated that there were two large trading towns, Tambavita and  Tubavatiya  in Seruwila having banks which did international transactions.(sic) A third inscription  spoke of  yet another trading town called Kadavita. There was a banking centre there called Manarama. It states that king Mahasen had deposited the paddy from a field owned by him in Seruwila area, to a bank there  and the interest was to go to the temple.

Inscriptions  also yielded information on ownership and use of money. Samangala forest hermitage had an inscription which refers to the ownership of a forest. Ganekanda vihara, Kurunegala inscription said  that a king gave one lakh for the labour  needed to build a wall to obtain water for Tarapa gama. This is probably an amuna, said Medhananda .

  Kondawattawana inscription, Gal Oya, dated to 10th century ,spoke of  the taxes on paddy fields and the law regarding it. Another inscription  spoke of a tax called  Patta.Nelumpath inscription, Kumana    said a water tax called Mahanakaraka had to be paid to this vihara.

Udayagiri Raja Maha Vihara, Ampara yielded  an inscription   which said that in the time of Udaya I, the Senapathi Udaya and Abhaya  exempted the lands owned by the vihara from the Veletti tax. This was the first time we hear of Veletti tax. May be a  grain tax, said Medhananda .  ( continued)

ALI SUKHANVER

Pakistan has recently shot down a spy drone of India and India has arrested a spy-pigeon of Pakistan. The owner of the pigeon Habibullah, a Pakistani villager, has warned the Indian authorities to refrain from ‘victimizing innocent birds’. He has urged the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to return his pigeon, currently being held in India on charges of spying. According to the details, Habibullah lives just 4km from the border between India and Pakistan and pigeon-flying is his hobby. He owns a dozen pigeons. All his pigeons wear a ring in a leg and a plastic-paper piece is attached with every ring which bears his mobile phone number. During the Eid days, one of his pigeons lost its way back to home and ‘crossed the sensitive border’ between the two countries. Somehow the Indian security authorities caught that innocent bird and started a well organized campaign against Pakistan blaming that Pakistan has once again sent a spy-pigeon to India. This is not for the first time that innocent birds are being dragged into the battle-field of two nuclear countries; in May 2015, India had ‘arrested’ a white pigeon after it was spotted by a 14-year-old boy in a village close to the border. Next year in October 2016, another pigeon was taken into custody after it was found with a note ‘threatening’ the Indian prime minister, according to the Indian media.

Blaming the neighbours and just adding fuel to fire with the help of such childish gimmicks has become the part of the temperament of those few war-mongers in India who simply desire to see the world without peace. Though such people are very little in number but somehow or the other they are in a dominating position there. It is not only with Pakistan, India’s relations with all other neighboring countries are also always at the verge of war. Most of the neighbours complain that India keeps on trying to interfere and intrude their territory by using all fair and foul means.  Experts say that the Modi government would have never shown such a brutal hostility against the neighbours if US were not at its back.

It has always been a misconception of the Mr. Modi and his political followers that all their right or wrong actions would be legitimized with the backing and support of the US government. Same has been the mode of thinking of Afghanistan’s President Mr. Ashraf Ghani. Under the supervision of Ashraf Ghani government, the Afghan forces always try to provoke Pakistani Forces by throwing bomb-shells across the border. These shells not only cause damages to the houses of innocent civilians living near the borders but also snatch the lives of children and women living there. After every such incident some of the Afghan and Indian media agents start maligning the actual situation by blaming Pakistan. They misreport that shells were thrown into the Afghan area by Pakistan and the people killed as a result were the Afghanis not Pakistanis. In short Mr. Modi and Mr. Ghani and their followers rank US as a never-declining ultimate authority. Now all their dreams seem shattering as a series of pathetic events and incidents has proved that US is not the ultimate power.

Today, the so-called world super power US is passing through the ever-worst phase of its history in shape of racial-riots. On 31^st May 2020, the Washington Post said reporting on the worsening law and order situation in US, A day of widespread protests devolved into a night of fire and fury across the nation as tensions boiled over in dozens of American cities. Police cars and government buildings were set aflame, windows were shattered, stores were ransacked, monuments were vandalized and authorities in riot gear fired pepper pellets, tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators who had amassed to protest the death of George Floyd, a black man killed at the hands of police.” The US is already badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and these racial-riots are simply adding a lot to the misery. At present, more than 24 cities are under curfew and about 12 states are being controlled by the National Guard. Astonishingly in spite of all these security measures, reports say, scores of police officers and protesters have yet been injured many of them are in critical condition. Even the White House is not safe at the hands of the protesters as there have been reports of serious clashes between Secret Service agents and demonstrators outside the White House.

It is also something very alarming that after the racial riots and after the Covid-19 pandemic, the country is facing the worst type of losses to the economic structure. Shopping-Malls are being burned, shops are being looted, houses demolished and vehicles smashed. The entire situation is so depressing and disappointing particularly for the business community that America’s one of the giant business corporations The Target has decided to close 175 of its stores across 13 states. This corporation owns and operates more than 1844 departmental stores throughout the country. Its head-office is in Minnesota, the same Minnesota where from the story of riots started. Certainly this step of the Target would lead to the unemployment of thousands of workers. In such a horrible situation of the present and with a dark, gloomy picture of the future, how US would be able to patronize Indian hegemonic designs in the South-Asian region and Afghanistan’s baseless hostility against Pakistan; this is an important question.

‘It was horrific then. It’s horrific to hear it now.’ — Ken Burns wants all of us to remember Donald Trump’s extreme response to the Central Park Five case.

In US news, Ken Burns sat down with NowThis News to talk about the Central Park 5 case and how Donald Trump reacted to it back in 1989. The Central Park 5 refers to Korey Wise, Antron McCray, Yuse Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Kevin Richardson who were convicted of raping and beating a Central Park jogger Trisha Meili. After the attack Donald Trump called for the death penalty to be used on the Central Park 5. The Central Park Five case was the subject of Sarah Burns’ book, later a Ken Burns’ documentary, and is now being turned into a Netflix series from Ava DuVernay called When They See Us. In a Trump interview at the time, Trump said he ‘hates these people’ and believed hate would help get things done.

Dr. Sarath Obeysekera 

We read politicians including paradesheeya sabha members and monks involved in robberies ,  but this is the first time we hear about  a Doctor who is almost a consultant involved in a robbery.

There is nothing here to be surprised because most of the doctors who become consultants eventually start robbing poor people when they go on doing private practice.

The only difference is that this culprit wanted to rob the total loot for a lifetime in one go!

Dr Sarath Obeysekera
CEO Walkers Colombo Shipyard
Colombo
Sri Lanka

by Shamindra Ferdinando  Courtesy The Island

National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and Minister Wimal Weerawansa on Monday (8) said that the three-member Election Commission (EC) should take the responsibility for holding up the parliamentary polls as well as the conduct of its member Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole.

The EC comprises Mahinda Deshapriya, Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole and Nalin Abeysekera PC.

Alleging the EC pursued an agenda inimical to Sri Lanka, Minister Weerawansa demanded that the biased EC resigned immediately. The NFF leader said so on ‘Salakuna’-a live interview on ‘Hiru’ conducted by a panel of journalists.

‘Hiru’ panel consists of Chamuditha Samarawickrema, Chapa Bandara and Madushan de Silva.

Minister Weerawansa emphasized that the EC couldn’t be considered an independent body, especially against the backdrop of Prof. Hoole’s conduct. Reference was made to Prof. Hoole’s daughter visiting the EC premises at Rajagiriya and his controversial interview with Jaffna-based Dan TV in which the academic criticized a section of the media for their reportage of his conduct while urging the electorate not to vote for the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

Weerawansa, a member of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s caretaker cabinet holds Small and Medium Business and Enterprise Development, Industries and Supply chain Management portfolio.

Lawmaker Weerawansa said that he considered the crisis was caused by the EC not Prof. Hoole alone. Colombo District MP Weerawansa questioned the EC Chairman Deshapriya’s response to Prof. Hoole’s conduct. Responding to a query, Minister Weerawansa accused EC Chairman of protecting Prof. Hoole.

Alleging that the so called independent EC was actually engaged in prostitution, Minister Weerawansa said that Deshapriya’s actions and the failure on his part to restore public confidence in the EC were contrary to what he often preached.

Minister Weerawansa alleged that EC Chairman Deshapriya was bent on delaying the parliamentary polls.

Referring to Deshapriya’s declaration that the EC could immediately initiate the electoral process if a guarantee was received as regards non-existence of corona threat, minister Weerawansa asked whether EC wanted the government to suspend repatriation of Lankans pending the conclusion of polls.

The erstwhile JVP firebrand strongly denied accusations that the SLPP was trying to bulldoze the EC. The NFF leader acknowledged that the government lacked the power to change the composition of the EC as the only authority-Constitutional Council empowered to intervene remained in the hands of the UNP and those aligned with it.

At the onset of the interview, Minister Weerawansa said that Prof. Hoole or any other member of the EC reserved the right to vote for a particular party though decisions pertaining to the EC couldn’t be made on the basis of one’s political opinion. One-time JVP heavyweight alleged that Prof. Hoole strongly pushed for the rejection of SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s nominations for the 2019 presidential polls.

SLPP General Secretary attorney-at-law Sagara Kariyawasam recently lodged a complaint with the EC in respect of Prof. Hoole’s interview with Dan TV.

The UNP and its breakaway faction, Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) wanted to delay parliamentary polls till late August or early September as both believed the government would be in an extremely difficult situation by then, Minister Weerawansa alleged. Responding to ‘Hiru’ panel, Minister Weerawansa said that the EC facilitated political strategies of the UNP and SJB.

Minister Weerawansa also discussed the possibility of the EC Chairman receiving the backing of civil society grouping that backed the LTTE during the conflict. The minister attributed this to EC Chairman’s younger brother Sunanda Deshapriya being an influential civil society activist.

Minister Weerawansa found fault with the UNP, SJB and the JVP for not criticizing the EC’s conduct.

Acknowledging that the government had failed in the implementation of quarantine regulations in certain instances, Minister Weerawansa said that any attempt to take action against Prof. Hoole and his daughter for the latter’s visit to the EC premises could cause controversy. The minister said that the government was interested in bringing the situation to the public attention and certainly not pursue the matter in court.

Now that the Supreme Court has rejected all petitions filed against the dissolution of parliament on March 2 and EC announcement to conduct the polls on June 20, there was absolutely no point in discussing the possibility of reconvening the parliament. The EC’s responsibility would be to conduct parliamentary poll at the first appropriate opportunity, the minister said, denying accusations that the government suppressed corona deaths as part of its overall strategy to pave the way for polls.

Minister Weerawnsa asked how the government could pressure DGHS Dr. Anil Jayasinghe to deceive the public when the media had direct access to all hospitals where corona patients were warded.

NFF leader Weerawansa alleged that Deshapriya and Prof. Hoole staged a show before the public.

Minister Weerawansa said that the public could move court against the EC for inordinate delay in announcing the polls date.

Courtesy matador network

SRI LANKA IS planning to welcome tourists back starting on August 1, 2020, but it’s taking this step with a serious safety protocol.

Many countries are now requiring a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival, administering them at the airports, but Sri Lanka is requiring four tests. According to Sri Lanka Tourism, the first test must be taken within 72 hours of your departure to Sri Lanka, and the second will be administered at the airport, on arrival, for free. While you’re waiting for the results — it could take up to 24 hours — you must wait in a hotel in Colombo or Negombo. Assuming you test negative, you will be required to take another test four to five days after arrival via a mobile unit, and if you’re staying longer, yet another test after 10 days.

While this may be inconvenient,” the tourism website acknowledges, it is essential to safeguard everybody and provide peace of mind.”

If you do test positive after any of these four tests, you will be placed in quarantine for 14 to 21 days, depending on your symptoms.

In addition to the tests, a tourist visa will now cost $100 (it was previously free), and in your visa application you must provide your itinerary, proof of medical insurance, booking details, and return ticket information.

So yes, visiting Sri Lanka after August will definitely be possible, but you’ll have to be committed.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry says that one more person has tested positive for the novel coronavirus today (09).

The total number of positive coronavirus cases reported in Sri Lanka has now risen to 1,858.

Courtesy Hiru News

Various comments made by opposition and ruling party politicians regarding the forthcoming parliamentary election and the Independent Election Commission are given below;

Courtesy Hiru News

It has been revealed that the doctor had used a toy pistol for the purpose to threaten the cashier of the Colombo National Hospital Accounts Division and had robbed 7.9 million rupees.

Police Media Spokesperson SP Jaliya Senaratne stated that he was a doctor attached another hospital and has come to the National Hospital for post graduate training as a specialist doctor.

The suspect had arrived at the Shroff Unit of the Bandaranaike building at the National Hospital at around 1.30 pm and had robbed the overtime allowances, salaries and cash for the payment of additional duties of the hospital staff.

Investigations have revealed that two trainee State Intelligence Service officers had chased the suspect in another three-wheeler and arrested him.

It has also been reported that the officer in charge of the Women’s and Children’s Bureau, Waruni Bogahawatte who was in the hospital for an official duty has assisted the two intelligence officers to apprehend the suspect.

The suspect who was arrested is a resident of Horana.

The reason and purpose of the robbery is to be ascertained.

Courtesy Hiru News

Minister Wimal Weerawansa revealed today that the US official who arrived in Sri Lanka and refused to be subject to a PCR test was not a diplomat.

He was speaking at a press conference held in Colombo. The Minister also expressed his views regarding the conduct of the Election Commission Chairman.

Courtesy Hiru News

Police Inspector Neomal Rangajiva of the Police Field Force Headquarters said that IGP Pujith Jayasundara insisted on mentioning the name of former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in connection with the 2012 shooting incident at Welikada Prison.

He was presenting evidence before the Presidential Commission appointed to Investigate Political revenge.